Mirror's Visit

Orochi sat in a lumpy tweed armchair. A game controller hung loosely in her right hand. Her eyes were cast towards the sky. Her view of that vast open blue expanse was blocked by a plain white ceiling illuminated by fluorescent lights. “Booooored.”

Orochi had been in the hospital two full days. She’d already explored everything there was to explore in the hospital on her first day. She’d even managed to make a few friends among the long-term residents. But this time, after her mom left and just before her classmates started coming, was a horrible drag.

Shiketsu would’ve let out by now, but no-one had had time to come yet. Yui would have rushed home to take care of Ako before she could come. Inigo would be doing God knows what. The only one who’d come straight here had to walk and wait for someone to walk with him at that.

Orochi checked the clock on her wall again. 15 minutes after Shiketsu let out. Her first visitor wouldn’t be due for another 5 minutes. Orochi sighed and let her mind wander. Those 5 minutes could feel like an eternity when one didn’t have the motivation to even meditate. As part of her rehabilitation, they wouldn't even let her exercise outside of specifically regimented times. That was torturous.

As Orochi’s mind wandered, her hydra heads noticed each other. They started hissing. Orochi didn’t bother correcting them. She just didn’t have the motivation. Maybe if they fought it’d give her something else to focus on besides puzzling out what the ceiling’s exact shade of white was called.

“Bored.” Orochi repeated. The console Inigo had brought in lay in the corner of her room. It was hooked up to a 20 inch CRT that was barely worth calling a TV. The Fekken CXX title screen shone in low res glory. The screen flickered. The ancient TV spat in the face of the game’s pristine graphics. Almost like it was offended that technology had left behind the perfection of CRT.

Orochi sighed. She placed her controller on her chair’s arm rest. There was almost no point in playing right now. The computer was no challenge and online was impossible.

Orochi had tried to play online yesterday before bed, but the hospital’s internet rendered that an awful experience. If she had wanted to tank her ELO, she would’ve just asked Inigo to play on her account. Watching him flounder against high-level opponents using waifu-bait would’ve been more pleasant than trying to play a match at 12fps.

Orochi’s hydras, offended that another of their kind existed, started snapping at each other. It wouldn’t be long before they really went at it. Orochi closed her eyes and concentrated. The hydras mewled as she willed them apart. She opened her eyes with a heavy sigh. The effort to keep her hydras in line was almost herculean in her state. The temptation just to let them fight it out so she’d have a moment’s distraction had nearly won.

There was a knock at the door.

Orochi perked up. Then shook her head, mad at herself for getting excited. There was a second knock. It’d be a nurse unless…. She checked the clock. 5 minutes had past since she’d last looked. That meant it was 20 minutes since school let out. Orochi sighed in relief. Her first visitor was finally due to be here.

“Come in.”

Chris walked into the room, carrying two backpacks. He was alone today. He must’ve come with someone that wanted to be teleported back to Shiketsu after the escort. Maybe Kaylee. Kaylee had gotten obsessed with searching for Feral recently.

Chris had gotten a lot taller over the summer. He’d broadened out to the point he looked old enough to be at Shiketsu. His face actually looked like a face rather than mismatched jigsaw pieces. He was still recognizably Chris though. That permanent half scowl was hard to misplace.

“Hey Chris.” Orochi greeted. She tried to hide just how relieved she was to have company.

“Yo.” Chris responded. He walked over to her bed, plopped down his first backpack and pulled out three items. He held the first item up. This was a notebook with a cheap black and white cover. It bristled with red and yellow tabs.

“Notes for today. Red tab means it’ll be on the test, yellow tab means it might be on the test. Focus on the red you’ll get an A. Yellow if you want a perfect score. The rest is for entertainment purposes.”

“Entertainment?”

“You’ll get bored enough that class notes will be entertaining.”

Orochi flinched at the truth in those words. If anyone knew how boring the hospital could get, it was Chris. He held up the second item. This one was a thin folder, bristling with looseleaf paper.

“Homework.”

Orochi groaned.

Chris held up the last item. Another folder with more organized looseleaf paper.

“Answers to the homework.”

Orochi grinned. “Thanks Chris.”

“Tell me you’re using it to check your work and we’re even. Rosethorn’s going to ask and I still suck at lying.”

“I AM using it to check my work.” Orochi, despite her grumbling, was honestly grateful for the distraction even homework provided.

“Good.” Chris grunted.

Chris turned towards Orochi’s crowded nightstand and paused. He tried to place the three items on Orochi’s crowded nightstand. He struggled. Between Yui’s manga, Inigo’s plushies and the other gifts Orochi had been showered with, there was just no space left. Eventually he settled with placing his offerings on top of the stack of manga that had accumulated. The tower of manga and notes teetered ominously. Chris tensed, ready to catch it. The massive construct leaned a centimeter towards him, then miraculously stabilized.

Chris sighed in relief. “I’ll ask Yui to bring you something different, you’re out of room.”

“No, I’ve read all those manga. I NEED more.”

“Seriously?”

“There’s nothing else to do!”

“The old farts are always playing Go, Chess or Shogi in the--”

Orochi eyes narrowed at Chris. He knew what the old bastards were like.

Chris conceded the point with a nod.

“Fair. But we’re gonna have to move the manga you’ve already finished then.” Without waiting for permission, Chris began to do just that. He picked manga from the top of the pile, then placed them on her bed. With a heft, he carried the rest to a steel chair in the corner.

Orochi watched Chris for a moment longer before shaking her head. “I don’t know how you did it.”

“Did what?” Chris asked. He finished moving her finished manga and moved back to Orochi’s bed. He picked up the remaining manga and notes and placed them back on her bed. Then he plopped his second backpack on the bed. He opened the bag. Orochi watched him. She hesitated. Was it her right to ask?

“You didn’t let anyone visit you the first time you were in the hospital right? For two days? I’VE been here two days and I’m ready to climb the wall.”

Chris fished out two fight sticks from his bag and walked over to the console while he pondered his answer. He knelt next to the console and began to plug the sticks in.

“I didn’t want any visitors the second time either. But…”

Orochi smiled. They hadn't taken no for an answer.

“But as for the first time, I had regrets to keep me company.”

Chris finished hooking the sticks up and handed one to Orochi. Orochi accepted it gladly. Finally, something that wasn’t watching paint dry. She swatted away one of the heads when it tried to nom the joystick.

“Behave.” Orochi hissed. The heads mewled in unison and curled up behind her back. Hopefully that scolding would keep them mollified until visiting hours were over.

Still, what Chris said bothered Orochi. He sat on the floor next to her, cradling the stick in his lap. What’d he have to regret about being injured? Did he think she should regret it? She couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“What'd you regret?”

“I was stupid both times I ended up here.” Chris waved his hand dismissively, as if he were dispelling a bad memory. “I moved without thinking, put myself and others in danger. I could spend all day feeling sorry for myself and not get tired of it. You, even with the benefit of hindsight, did the right thing. Different mental state than what I had.”

Orochi stared at the stick in her lap for a moment, pondering Chris’s words. Her back still hurt. The pain from that moment would take some time to get over. She’d probably never forget it. It was in that moment, with Feral’s arm in her gut, that Orochi was certain she was going to die. Then… her friends came.

Yui, Kaylee and Chris had saved her life by coming when they did. Kaylee beat Feral into retreating. Yui staunched the bleeding. Chris teleported her to the hospital with Hifumi’s quirk. The damage done to her body had been extensive enough that even Orochi’s regeneration had been overwhelmed. If any one of those three idiots hadn’t arrived, she’d probably be dead.

Orochi had already thanked all three of her friends. She’d even apologized for the inconvenience she’d caused. Yet, she felt thankful again. Chris and Yui visited every day. Kaylee was out there scouring the world for Feral. Orochi felt like they should find it all annoying that their lives got turned upside down just because she’d gotten hurt. They never seemed close to resenting her though.

In fact, Chris had just told her she’d done the right thing. He'd said it with the same blunt certainty he’d give any other assessment. Objectively, Orochi had already known she’d done the right thing. She’d avoided direct confrontation for as long as possible. Only turned and fought when it was clearly her best option. She hadn't laid down and died until help arrived. Even her dad had little to complain about with her conduct that day. But hearing it from Chris, someone who wouldn’t know how to spare your feelings if you drew him a map, meant something.

The distinct sound of buttons being tapped impatiently shook Orochi from her reverie. Chris was looking up at her. He was annoyed. “We gonna play or what?”

Orochi restrained a smile. She thumbed the 1st player cursor over to Vs. mode. “No, I’m gonna play, you’re going to lose.”

“Oh is that so? Fine! I’m picking Yaw.”

“Oh come on! That’s an S-tier character!”

“Cope.”

“... I’m picking Saul.”

“You bitch about my pick and then pick the best character in the game?”

“Cope.”

“Tryhard.”

Author's Note: They’re both tryhards.